Production and profits are increasing, and Wall Street is watching the Dow Jones Industrial Index reach for 20,000, but personal income is flat and prices are rising, according to various official figures.
So who's reaping the benefits in the current U.S. economy?
National output (GDP) grew by 3.5 percent in the third quarter and profits from current production rose by $117.8 trillion after falling by $12.5 billion in the second quarter, according to the Commerce Department.
Separately, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) said the producer price index increased 0.4 percent in November. Payroll employment was flat in 39 states and rose in only 9 states, the BLS reported.
Taken together, it seems business and investors are happy. Wage earners, on the other hand, not so much. Hourly earnings decreased 0.4 percent in November, according to BLS data, largely due to an increase in the Consumer Price Index.
Moreover, it would take a boost in wage growth of 3.5 percent to 4 percent for workers "to begin to reap the benefits of economic growth, and to achieve a genuine recovery from the Great Recession," as stated in a report by the Economic Policy Institute.
Meanwhile, the incoming President of the United States is planning on lower corporate tax rates and less government regulation, in a rebirth of free-market, trickle-down economics espoused for many decades by conservative political leaders.
So once again, the question is, who stands to gain most as the nation acquires a new government next month?
You guess.
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